There was an exchange at the Waca nets in Perth last year between Imran Tahir and one of the Proteas’ coaching staff that went something like this:
Coaching staff member:“That seems to be coming out nicely, Immy. Which one was that?”
Tahir:“Leggie. The one than doesn’t spin too much.”
Staff member:“Oh. How many leggies do you have?
Tahir:“Two. One that spins a lot, and one that doesn’t.”
Staff member:“Oh. How many different balls can you bowl?”
Tahir:“About seven.”
Staff member:“Seven!?”
Tahir:“Yes.”
Tahir then proceeded to show off his variations.
The two leg-breaks. The two different googlies – a big spinning one, and the other spun less. Then there was a top spinner and a “flipper”. The latter needs work. However, the top spinner is a thing of beauty – ask Dwayne Smith who had no clue about it as the ball crashed into his pads trapping him lbw in the first One-Day International against the West Indies in Durban last month.
Tahir has variations of his variations, too, mainly on account of the different speeds at which he bowls the ball although he also has a round-arm googly as well and two “sliders” (they look like top-spinners but apparently aren’t). He could have 10 different kinds of deliveries. Only he really knows. Seven will do for now, though.
The key for him has been learning how to utilise all those options. Too often he wants to try a different delivery in each ball of an over.
It’s been his biggest problem in Test cricket, where patience is indeed a virtue. Tahir doesn’t have a lot of that, and so has struggled in the Test arena. When he is attacked, as was the case most famously in Adelaide in 2012, he thinks he has to attack more, bowl a big-spinning googly or rip his leg-break. So his captains can’t trust him.
But in the limited-overs formats it’s an entirely different player who comes to the fore.
Hashim Amla said after the West Indies series that Tahir had “revolutionised” the way South Africa played one-day cricket. A side that were generally conservative, once their new-ball bowlers had finished their work upfront, now has a bowler whose main aim is to take wickets. So, first under Graeme Smith and then AB de Villiers, came the realisation that there was no point setting bog standard defensive fields any more.
Tahir’s style pushed them into being more aggressive and with the rules of One-Day Internationals changing too, particularly the restriction on four fielders being on the boundary outside of the Power Play overs, South Africa have set more attacking fields, and Tahir has thrived.
“Immy, in a way, is kind of our key bowler,” Gary Kirsten remarked on the Australian tour last year.
“It takes unbelievable skill to do the things he is able to do,” said Kirsten.
The attacking option Tahir provides after the two new balls have lost some shine has been a crucial part of the side’s strategy since he made his debut at the previous tournament in India.
There was a lot of hype surrounding his selection, but four years ago the management decided to “hide” him ahead of the World Cup. He made his ODI debut in South Africa’s opening match against the West Indies in New Delhi and, after a nervous first spell of two overs that went for 13, he finished with 4/41 from 10 overs.
That World Cup may have ended badly for South Africa, but Tahir had quickly established himself in the side, ending the tournament with 14 wickets from five matches at an average of 10.71.
So it was a little strange that Tahir wasn’t part of South Africa’s ODI plans after the World Cup and through 2012, missing 16 matches in all – though he did make his Test debut in late 2011 against Australia.
He only returned to the ODI set-up in 2013 when South Africa faced the land of his birth, Pakistan, in the UAE.
As De Villiers has grown more accustomed to the captaincy, so he has learned to use Tahir in different ways.
Because he is such an attacking player, the South African captain isn’t afraid to throw him the ball in the batting Power Play, and in the last few years he’s become an option at the “death” too.
Tahir, whose 19-year career has seen him represent 28 different teams, has also learned to go beyond merely operating on feel and instinct.
“I’ve learned that you must have a plan before the game,” he said in an interview earlier this season.
The team’s performance analyst, Prasanna Agoram, has played a major role in assisting Tahir develop better strategies.
“I must give credit to Prasanna. He’s been really helpful with the video analysis, which has helped to show me how and where to bowl to the (opposition).
“Before that I just used to bowl. There were no plans and I didn’t know what to do. You go on a non-turning wicket and you’re trying to spin the ball. Obviously that’s difficult.”
Tahir’s skill and improved know-how have been apparent when looking at the numbers besides the wickets column.
Among spinners since 2013, his economy rate (average runs conceded per over) is 4.50, bettered only by Saeed Ajmal, Sunil Narine and Mohammed Hafeez – who have all faced questions over their actions – and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath.
In the last 10 overs of an innings, his economy rate (since 2013) is 5.29.
If, as bowling coach Allan Donald recently stated, South Africa are looking to be “unpredictable” at the “death”, then that kind of number from Tahir may see him increasingly become part of South Africa’s late-innings plans.
“I think Imran could do an outstanding job,” mused Kirsten about that option.
Tahir, 35, is skirting under the shadows somewhat of South Africa’s much more renowned pace attack. He’s not quite the secret weapon unleashed at the previous tournament.
However, that doesn’t mean Tahir may not have some new tricks up his sleeve in 2015.